E3 Nitro a virtually sweat-free ride

Priced at $3,995, the eFlow E3 Nitro is an electric bicycle with a top speed of 20 mph that can travel up to 35 miles per charge. Powered with a 500-watt hub motor and lithium-ion batteries, it can be operated with or without pedaling. EFLOW

Last week, I did something I would never attempt on a pedal bicycle: I rode 25 miles across Los Angeles to Santa Monica during rush hour. The trip was my last hurrah on board the eFlow E3 Nitro – an electric bike designed to easily traverse hill and dale or, in my case, the potholed asphalt connecting Northeast L.A. to the coast, without any heavy breathing on the part of the bike or its rider.

Like a lot of commuters, I'm loathe to sweat. But I'm also interested in circumventing the area's increasing amounts of traffic as cheaply and expeditiously as possible. Electric bicycles are finally becoming viable, with larger, more efficient motors and battery packs that are designed into the bikes' structures for better handling, as well as aesthetics.

The most technologically sophisticated two-wheeler to come from longstanding Simi Valley e-bike maker Currie Technologies, the E3 Nitro is powered with a 500-watt motor centered in the rear wheel hub. Coupled with a 36-volt lithium-ion battery pack that nests in the seat tube, it can travel up to 35 miles on a single charge.

That was more than sufficient for my cross-city trip, which began at 8:10 a.m. on a Friday morning and landed me at my destination 90 minutes later with only a slight sheen of sweat and coating of gritty particulate.

The E3 Nitro can be ridden in three different modes enabled with the press of a button on a small detachable screen affixed to the bike's neck. Leave the power off and riders can, in theory at least, pretend the E3 Nitro is a regular pedal bicycle that, despite its hydroformed aluminum frame, tips the scales at 52 pounds.

Or they can use the bike as intended. Power on Demand allows riders to travel without any need to pedal. Just twist the throttle and the motor does all the work.

I preferred Pedal Assist mode, which only activates the motor when the pedals are pushed and can be set to various levels of assist from virtually nil to something akin to super strength. Not only does pedaling extend the range of the bike, it also gave my legs something to do and made me feel less like a cheater whenever I passed a real cyclist in full spandex, which was often.

The E3 Nitro is recognized by the federal government as an electric bicycle, which means it is legally restricted to a maximum speed of less than 20 mph when powered solely by the motor with an operator weighing less than 170 pounds. Its 20-speed SRAM drivetrain is geared accordingly, so, while I reached a top speed of 23.6 mph, it was only after cranking the bike in top gear in a manner that looked like I was taking a Spin class and careening downhill.

Over the dozen times I rode the E3 Nitro, I used the gear shift less and less, mostly because the pedal is so sensitive to pressure that with maximum power assist and traveling in top gear, it was so easy to take off that I didn't bother downshifting. That made me think: Offer the E3 Nitro as a fixie, and it might reduce the price.

At $3,995, the eFlow E3 Nitro isn't cheap to buy, but it is to operate. It doesn't require insurance or registration. It does, however, take a certain chutzpah to travel amid high-speed traffic on roads with only intermittent bike lanes.

The good news about bicycling during rush hour is that so many cars are prevented from parking, thus reducing the chances of getting doored. The bad news is that everyone's in such a rush, it requires hyper vigilance to steer clear of the many drivers who either haven't seen – or more likely don't care – about the bus ads admonishing them to share the lane with bicycles.

Still, on tight sections of street, there were several times I could weave through traffic far faster than cars and more effectively, even, than lane-splitting motorcycles.

The E3 Nitro uses a chunky mountain-bike frame that lacks much suspension, other than a short-travel shock in the fork and the thick-treaded tires on the bike's 26-inch wheels – and my knees.

I was traveling to Santa Monica to return the bicycle to one of Currie's so-called iZip stores. Most traditional bicycle shops have eschewed e-bikes, forcing manufacturers to come up with different outlets. Locally, the E3 Nitro is available at Fresch Electric in Huntington Beach, EZ Green Bikes in Dana Point and Myron's Extreme Machines in Fullerton.

According to Mapquest, getting to the shop taking city streets was a 25-mile, 65-minute ride. On board the E3 Nitro, it took roughly twice as much time, which is similar to what I had already discovered in prior travels on the bike.

The display on the E3 Nitro let me know exactly how much battery life I had left with a display of five black bars. Over the course of my journey, I ran through the bars at the rate of one for every 5 miles, or 20 minutes – even in maximum motor-assist mode. Still, by the time I arrived in Santa Monica, two of the battery's five bars remained.

Those bars were easily replenished with a charger that plugs into the bike's frame. With a traditional 110-volt wall outlet, it takes four to six hours to fully recharge.

If only I had kept the bike. My experience with the E3 Nitro was inspiring enough that, with confidence, I might have attempted my usual 35-mile commute from L.A. to O.C.

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